Tuesday, March 22, 2011

Constructor: Albert R. Picallo

Relative difficulty: Easy-Medium

THEME: TWIST OF FATE (35A: Unexpected development ... or what the answer to each starred clue contains?) — eight different arrangements of the letters F, E, A, and T appear in symmetrical answers in the grid.

Word of the Day: Kid ORY (42A: Jazz trombonist Kid ___) —

Edward "Kid" Ory (December 25, 1886 – January 23, 1973) was a jazztrombonist and bandleader.[...] Ory was a banjo player during his youth and it is said that his ability to play the banjo helped him develop "tailgate," a particular style of playing the trombone. In "tailgate" style the trombone plays a rhythmic line underneath the trumpets and cornets. // He had one of the best-known bands in New Orleans in the 1910s, hiring many of the great jazz musicians of the city, including, cornetists Joe "King" Oliver, Mutt Carey, and Louis Armstrong; and clarinetists Johnny Dodds and Jimmie Noone. [...] The Ory band was an important force in reviving interest in New Orleans jazz, making popular radio broadcasts—among them a number of slots on the Orson WellesAlmanac broadcast and a jazz history series sponsored by Standard Oil—as well as by making recordings. Ory retired from music in 1966 and spent his last years in Hawaii ... (wikipedia)

• • •

First reaction: FEAT? Just ... different letter arrangements? Why? Then I went to type in all the standard info (above), such as Constructor, Difficulty Level, and Theme. What should I call it? I know: TWIST OF FATE ... wait. That really, really should have been this puzzle's title. WAIT! It's the answer smack in the middle of the grid! Wow, way to not pay attention, Rex. Anyway, TWIST OF FATE makes all the damned circles and random letter arrangements somewhat more tolerable. Annoyed at the doubling up of theme clues about musicals, as it detracts / distracts from the actual theme (also, musicals schmusicals). Also annoyed at ORY, a terrible bit of crosswordese, as well as ITRY, which is somewhat less terrible, but somehow still irksome to me (32D: Modest response to praise). Rest of the grid seems pretty solid—impressive for a puzzle with such theme density. Hmmm, on second look, there is a little more not-so-nice stuff than I like to see in an easy puzzle: OST, OID, EXEL, MVI, ORY, EEC, EFOR = none of it great. Nice modern clue on SLIDER (47D: Small burger) (at least I assume it's modern, as I'd never heard of a SLIDER in my life until I started seeing them appear on menus about 3-5 years ago).

[One of the 80s-est videos / songs you'll ever see]

Theme answers:

4D: *Song from "No, No, Nanette" ("TEA FOR TWO")

18A: *Dining area (CAFETERIA)

21A: *Result of collapsed arches (FLAT FEET)

21D: *Daredevils' doings (FEATS)

36D: *Kind of position (FETAL)

34D: *"It Might as Well Be Spring" musical ("STATE FAIR")

53A: *Nevertheless (AFTER ALL)

56A: *Didn't disturb (LEFT ALONE)

NW and SE corners went down Very fast — except for the musicals clues, which required some crosses — and the rest felt like an ordinary Tuesday, with the ORY-ish middle being probably the most trying part of the grid.

31A: Period following homework completion, perhaps (TV TIME) — sounds original, though originality credit belongs to a 2003 Liz Gorski puzzle (the only other puzzle to use this answer)

40A: Considered good by Moody's (RATED A) — they rate bonds. Speaking of which, the trial of Barry Bonds began today. No idea what Moody's would rate him.

7D: English theologian Watts (ISAAC) — weird. Don't think I've even heard of this guy. Wikipedia say he was "recognized as the "Father of English Hymnody"" ... yep, sounds like something I wouldn't know.

51D: Bob Cratchit, for one (CLERK) — ugh, slowed way down here because I was thinking Scrooge, not Cratchit.

48A: Dee Dee, Tommy, Joey or Johnny of punk (RAMONE) — now there's an answer I can get behind.

Ugg my early week times have been off for some time now. I wonder if I have a brain tumor.Listening to the Coltrane Rex provided and loving it.I know its yesterday's news but I did not get enough ACPT.We need a chatroom or something...

@Tobias, please don't sneak off to a chat room somewhere. I wager this is the perfect space for the chat you crave. Well, not chat, exactly, but talk and exchange. I wasn't even there and I can't get enough of ACPT. I Loved @nanpilla's lovely, long atmospheric essay yesterday. Loads of info, and her quivering hand peeking up into the air... Rex's unusually effusive love notes, color commentary from @Sparky, @JenCT, @sugar acme's exclamation marks, all those cool constructors stopping in and, well, everyone's contributions whether you went or not. I love this blog.

I quite liked today's puzzle, too. Is this a debut?

My husband got a kick out of the Ramones clue. He is always complaining that "those things are too clever by half." I think he just likes saying that phrase, but he is definitely not a solver. So when I reeled off the names of one of his favorite bands, he perked up and admitted there might be some appeal here.

But Rex, you can't possibly be lumping together Broadway musicals with opera, can you? That smacks of either reverse snobbery or willful ignorance. Not that you have to know the shows, but not to know that No No Nanette or State Fair are not operas? Hmmmm... I bet you are just being inflammatory so that folks like me will fly up in the boughs.

When I was 13 I got to stand behind a piece of scenery at the California Theatre in San Bernardino during the I Want To Be Happy number in No No Nanette and hand a glass of water to the late great Martha Raye after she finished a show-stopping tap dance, did a quick change, and dashed back onstage. She was Fabulous.

What @Rex said about the crosswordese on a Tuesday, and what @DJG said about the anagram-wannabees.

I appreciate that a grid of this sort is reeeally hard to design and fill(even asymmetrically), but why go to all that trouble for a bunch of theme answers that, beyond the impressive mechanics, evince no further wit whatever?

@syndy, the only opera clue I could spot was the one about the chic diva's ensemble at 35D.

During the 1920's Kid ORY performed on Louis Armstrong's Hot Five and Hot Seven recordings – probably the most influential jazz recordings of all time! It's impossible to play traditional New Orleans jazz without ripping off Kid ORY.

"Jazz on a Summer's Day" Anita O'Day 1957Anita just kills on "TEA FOR TWO" (begins at 4:30)http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=agp2on83hrA

I just left a rather long comment and then did something stupid and erased the whole damn thing. Shoots!

Anyway, in short, I liked this one and had only one write over at 48D with at TASK before ON TASK when I knew the the RAMOtE was just not going to work. ORY was a new one for me and I had to Google him after the fact.

I'll go into my rambling at some other time, it had to do with Dear Old Dad and puzzles, blah, blah, blah! Later.

ORY took me forever! I had to try almost every letter of the alphabet, since I didn't know REEL either.

I saw the Ramones in Brooklyn in the late 70's - the singer was so wasted that he fell down on the stage, and the rest of the band just played on without him. Don't remember much else from that night...

I've decided to stop timing myself, since the ACPT - who needs that kind of pressure???

Last week we had "The best use of circles EVER." This week... well, ok, I guess it's cool how many anagrams one can work out of FATE. I guess. At least some (or more) of this felt fairly fresh and zippy.

I'm a big fan of Kid ORY (42A), Nipper (50A), and Tati (6D), and it's nice to see them here.

Just minutes before doing this, I took a shower and on the radio I heard a really terrific jazz version of "It Might As Well Be Spring" (34D) sung by Stacey Kent in French on our local NPR station.

Whenever I see a picture of Rex, I always think,"What, he doesn't look like the icon on the blog???"

Sliders have been around forever here in Chicagoland. A delicacy found at White Castle. And lately restaurants have been putting their own version of the mini burgers on the menu. Hopefully, with better ingredients.

Thanks for the photos, Rex. Nice to put faces to names. Caleb is adorable.

Slid right through the puzzle, even though I've never heard of STATE FAIR the musical. I'm lucky Sea Bisquit wouldn't fit or I'm guessing I'd have entered it and had to unwind the mess. Was that even a musical? Is this a PRANK?

I agree that the DAFT DEFT CLERK is by far my favorite part of the completed grid. OMERTA over THE MAFIA also is kinda cool, in a swimmin' with the fishies (catfish!) kind of way. Much better than E FOR FETAL.

I'm loving all the ACPT stories, so please keep 'em coming, folks! And more photos! With that, I have a crazy day ahead, so AFTER ALL, FINI!

I really liked this puzzle and admired the FEAT of 24 anagrams. Then I came here and geezerhood crept up on me. ISAAC Watts was a gimme. His hymns in their original (not modernized) forms are lovely poetry. I knew both the musicals. I like musicals and STATE FAIR was set in Iowa, (forget the movie version).

Thanks for the pix. It is nice to put faces to names. Sandy, mac and acme are lovely. Bob Kerfluffle looks like I imagined. Caleb is a doll.

Eight starred clues with a central reveal is quite a FEAT. Only one of the entries for the starred clues has circles containing an anagram of FATE, 21D FEAT. The rest of the starred clue entries just have rearrangements of the letters in FATE. Except 21A which has five circles with the letters FATFE. Seems odd.

ORY is certainly puzzle-worthy, though KID ORY would be so much better. But I wish if they were gonna clue ORY with Kid Ory they'd taken a more straightforward clue for REEL. Or the reverse. That felt like an avoidably oddly clued cross.

Went to bed last night right after doing the crossword and commenting here.Must have had ACPT on the brain because I dreamt my tournament application was rejected because of poor grammar in the essay portion.I guess part of my subconscious was trying to give me what I was asking for.Stupid brain...

Surprised that so far only @OldCarFudd mentioned that instead of the series of circles which appear in Rex's completed grid, the printed grid in the Times had ovals, or what I thought of as cartouches, to contain the various TWISTS OF FATE.

In 1967 I mailed away for a Publicity Chairman's Handbook. One of the rules therein was, "Some members of your organization will be more flattered by not having their photographs printed." I was reminded of that rule when I saw my picture here!

Yes, yes Yvette - I love your nickname ... (I saw Bernadette Peters in "No, No Nanette when I was an impressionable, hormonal teen. If Rex had been there he might have skipped the "SCH-").

A favorite zinger of my dad's came at the end of an episode. On a mission to Mirandize and cuff, the detectives enter the high-floor, corner office of the hateful and smarmy white-collar felon, who is on the phone with his feet up on the desk, and Briscoe grabs the receiver and says "He'll call you back in 25 to life". Though that one was not his, he took some pride in coming up with a lot of those lines. And I wonder why I love bad puns?

Fwiw, I think BEQ is actually looking at LOVERBOY in the grid and thinking: "Maybe I should wear a bandanna at my next gig".

Let the spirit of ACPT reign all year, or at least until Lollapuzzoola, an event equally worth of everyone's attendance.

I think we last saw this type of theme nearly two months ago (<a href="http://rexwordpuzzle.blogspot.com/2011/02/milnes-absent-minded-mr-tue-2-1-11-pre.html>Mixed Media</a>), and here we have a higher theme density plus a central reveal... makes for a nice puzzle, IMHO.

ONCLE crossing OID, NSA, and EEC is really my only quibble on the fill. There was quite a bit of crosswordese elsewhere, but all fairly gettable from crosses. Solid Tuesday in my book

When I saw the ovals in the dead tree version I went Whoa what's this? I intentionally circumvented the center revealer just to add to the suspence. It was fun.@ Bob K. Cartouche! Yes, that's exactly what they look like. good one.Where I grew up there was a greasy spoon that served coney dogs and mini burgers. The dogs were called sliders (made sense because of their shape) and the burgers were gut lumps. Thus I never understood a sliding burger.Great photos Rex. I think you are just yanking @ Greene's chain about the musicals. We'll see if/when he shows up. I am smitten with Caleb.

First off, Rex, you beat me out on puzzle #5. I believe I mentioned that, but it deserves rementioning. You owned that one.

Second, congrats on the trophy! Also know that you took fifth from me in the debate tournament; I suppose my impassioned argument that "Spaghetti-Os are actually not pasta" probably cost me the trophy, as in retrospect it didn't quite touch upon the assigned topic.

@Jaxin, @Two Ponies, yes "musicals schmusicasl" must be a dart from Rex's pea-shooter toward IMSDave, Greene, Torbach, et. al. Speaking of that, @Torbach, I believe I've seen that line delivered, but mostly I remember your dad from The Fantastiks, like forever! @quilter, agree with you re: STATE FAIR, the movie.

I thot this was a solid Tuesday with a playful fill, but perhaps it is just where my eyes roam. Down the California coast from PLANED EAR LAP to ON TASK at RCA. Did anyone see Nipper?

Thanks for the photos, Rex. Looks like a wonderful time. 2012, be swift!

@Bob Kerfuffle: Of Course! Thanks. Never did any TP'ing - I think it got popular after my youthful days. I will admit to having perpetrated a short-sheeting or two. If I was victimized by same I've surpressed the memory.

Today Rex's writeup says Musicals schmusicals last night He was ranting on about all the opera clues! when he came in to post the photos he (or someone)altered the text.It is a hazard of posting in at night!but @yes yes yvete Jaxinla was not imagining things!

...and then I said: "Good Question, Neville". I was actually grading the completed puzzle Orange submitted (I think I had the red pencil out: she's very careless, you know) several moments before the other speed demons were done. If I had been solving my own puzzle this gang would probably still have finished faster - including Caleb, Mr. D-Division trophy winner!

By the way, I neglected to say congrats to Mr. Picallo - that was another heap of theme today in a workable Tuesday degree of difficulty puzzle: not easy to achieve. Looking forward to the next.

A good Tuesday, for the most part. There are things that look funny in retrospect (17A, for instance) and slightly irritating (52A, Nick Van Who?) but all entirely get-able from the crosses.

The ACPT pictures, though, are the best part. The one of Rex, Andrea and Patrick is a truly fine example of people who really know how to smile! And Rex's trophy looks more suited to fifth place in the Winter Diving Competition of the MMMLXI Mt. Olympus Games.

@Bob Kerfuffle - I've always said that if my photos looked like a big gray cat, I'd be a lot happier!

Bob K: when I saw the picture with you in it, I had the odd luck of looking at the picture when the fellow's head standing behind you was just cut off in my browser. So the disembodied gray jacket of the fellow behind you looked a lot like your own hair--too bad you ran out of hair dye--and too bad if there's only room for one Bello Nock on this planet.

While I never heard of Kid ORY, REEL is certainly well-known, so I had no problem with that cross. On the contrary, I nearly went nuts on the EXE-/S-IDER crossing. I correctly went with the L, probably because I've seen Nick Van EXEL in the puzzle before. He was also, unfortunately, in the news about a year ago.

So, am I the only person here who has never heard of the small hamburger SLIDER before? I mean, I was aware of White Castle, but I never ate there and had no idea they had a special vocabulary. For what it's worth, I almost never eat out anywhere: kosher in Philadelphia is extremely limited.

Thank goodness @Bob Kerfuffle wears those great shirts. My sister, Beth, who also goes to the ACPT, has one bad foot and one worse foot. Greg (@The Big E) was leading us to a local Thai place he loved which was more of a walk than my sister can usually handle. Marion (@mac), Dave (@imsdave) and Greg were charging ahead, and Karen (formerly @karen from the cape) and I were staying at a speed that was comfortable for Beth. Bob was thoughtful enough to lag behind the front runners by half a block or so, making sure to keep eye contact, so we wouldn't miss the turns along the way. That shirt made him hard to lose!

I tried to comment twice and was wiped out. The third time's the charm?

Kid Ory could "pass," but passed on that. He preferred Black or mixed groups, the latter of which were disappearing. He was one of the first to commit his work to LP, 1921, CA. He did write the Muskrat Ramble (as opposed to the dreadful Muskrat Love).

Sicilian Hubster says Spaghetti-os are not even food. Mini-theme MAFIA/OMERTA' - remember, accent on last syllable!

@Rex - looked at all the photos on Flickr. Is there really a test to get into ACPT? Speed? IQ?

@JenCT, might be a message for you on Orange's blog, if you are the Jen being spoken of.

@william e. emba, @Orange, growing up in Chicago, I seem to recall White Castle having the tagline, "where onions go to die."

@Bob Kerfuffle, I thought you had a Nordic knit cap on your head at first. Good to see you, of whom many have spoken so highly. (Also, it doesn't hurt that you bear a striking resemblance to my dad when he was your age.)

Congrats to XXXI. Didn't catch you this time in my after-hours visits to Brooklyn, so I'll have to trust the photographic evidence.

34D:STATE_FAIR? I don't know it either. I expect it's still better than the shmap and other shmop culture and shportz that Rex gushes about regularly here. (Hm, shm- + sportz = Shortz? That would explain a few things…) Nor did I remember that 4D:TEA_FOR_TWO is from No, no for 9 ;-)

7D:ISAAC Watts, now that I do know, since he authored manyy hymn text — and I'm Jewish… Still didn't think of him as a theologian (and being Jewish I can think of a better route to clue ISAAC).

@Bob Kerfuffle ... I think that's a fine picture of you and I, like @napilla, love your shirt, even more knowing the back story of the restaurant trip ... but at first glance I did think you were wearing a hat! On a closer look I saw the gray shirt and realized that guy's back was not a hat. Much better!

I hope this is taken in the way I intend, which is only in good fun. Rex, that pic of IMSDAVE reminds me of the crazy ex-Congressman from Ohio, Jim Traficant, with the wild toupee because IMSDAVE’s hair blends into the background with the shirt behind him.

@Anonymous, 8:18 PM - Please take another look at Rex's caption. Imsdave is the George Clooney look-alike on the left. Bob Kerfuffle is the poor schlub with the clownish appearance (an earlier comment cited Bello Nock) on the right.

Arrived safely in Miami. Loved NYC. Printed puzzle last night and it had circles. Did not see the pointy ovals till read @Bob's comment. Wierd looking, like blimps. Puzzle: pretty much caught on at 21A-ATFE. Thought pretty blah but revealer put things to right. I like Dick Haymes singing Might As Well Be Spring. @Anon 8:41: I remember White Castle little burgers in castle shaped boxes but not the word sliders. @retired chemist: A for effort, D in the course. @nanpilla: they need a nice guy award. Bob K took care of me too seeing that I could manage with my cane and hung back to be sure I got out of the restaurant okay. @BobKerfuffle. The picture is fine. You look like a great guy to me.

@Noam: I though I saw you slinking through the bar on Saturday evening! Thought I had to be mistaken because I hadn't seen you during the competion. Sorry to have missed you.

@Bob Kerfuffle: I had to go back to that picture and now I see what they are talking about. How funny! Knowing what you look like I never noticed.And by the way, people, he is very unlikely to wear a hat! He doesn't feel the cold, came to the tournament without a coat, and it was cold when we went out for lunch and dinner!

Hope not too late to say I loved this puzzle. Thought there was a lot of theme, nicely done and I loved the center "reveal"...so much fun stuff inside...@DJGdo we have to retire this theme type just yet?I want to try one!

As for the pics...a) there is no one alive who has met him that does not have a crush on Caleb... young, old, male, female, balding, hirsute, wearing Hawaiian shirts or berets!

(Speaking of which, @arundel...it IS proof of how fabulous the ACPT is in that I was actually very happy in that moment, despite being a bit teary and not-as-ready-as-I-thought-I-was-to-be-in-public mode! So I will treasure the photograph as a testament to many, many things...)

@NevilleMacy Gray's "I Try" was the song that got me to buy music for the first time in 15 years! LOVE it.

@tonyFabulous to have you chiming in more often...now that I think about it, you give Caleb a run for his money as the most instantly beloved person at the ACPT. "He'll call you back in 25 years to Life..." Ha!

Although I agree that I don't think of Watts as a theologian, I am willing to bet that viertually everyone doing this puzzle knows at least one Watt hymn--Joy to the World, most likely. And if you ever went to any of the churches in the Wesleyan/Methodist tradition, you know at least 6 more, even if you don't know it.

Once again the syndicated puzzle in my local daily rag lacked the promised italics referenced by the reveal and once again it made no difference - the ovals in the grid made the theme apparent (after they were filled in, of course).

My WOD, thanks to @BobK: cartouche (and it wasn't even in the puzzle.

Great pictures - nice to see what some of the prime-timers look like!

Only quibble: In my experience one gets an "A" for effort, usually when they have done poorly otherwise. 18d should have been clued differently, I think.

Actually having a little more trouble with the other puzzle that comes in a Star Tribune every day. As yet unanswered clue: "Middle of a tassel?" All my head wants for an answer is PASTIE. Probably thinking too kinetically. But when I try to focus on the middle of a tassel itself, all I get is THEOTHERPASTIE. Damned kinetic thinking!!